How much are women and girls–half of humanity–valued? When men violate us for sex in prostitution. When nearly 1 in 3 of us worldwide are violated physically or sexually in our lifetime. When, despite having equal intellectual abilities and more developed social and emotional intelligence, we lack equal political power at every level of government and the UN.
South Africa is unique among nuclear powers in being the only nuclear weapons country to dismantle its nuclear weapons and sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. South Africa has been the most ethical country in its outcry against Israel’s apartheid toward the Palestinians and total genocidal destruction of Gaza.
Yet South Africa must find that same clarity and integrity with respect to the apartheid-like status into which prostitution imprisons women and girls. Currently the system of prostitution is illegal in South Africa but plaintiffs there are seeking to legalize prostitution and decriminalize the sexually debased use of women. “Socially, it could normalize the exploitation of the most vulnerable, many of whom enter prostitution because of childhood sexual abuse or neglect, poverty, or lack of employment opportunity. Instead of advancing women’s equality, legalization (of prostitution) deepens sexual inequality,” asserts Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, former member of Parliament in post- apartheid South Africa and founder of Embrace Dignity.
Intimate partner violence
Nearly one in three women and girls globally experience physical or sexual violence or stalking in their lifetime, with husbands and boyfriends being the most common violators of women. Girls between the ages of 11 and 17 are one-third of female victims of completed or attempted rape, the rapist almost always known to the girl and violating their trust. Kalliopi Mingeirou, chief of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls section at UN Women remarked “Stories of gender-based violence appear in fewer than two out of every 100 news articles. This is not just a gap in reporting, it is a gap in democracy.” Men dominate newsroom reporting overall and both the consequences of misogyny but also women’s constructive contributions to society are barely visible. “Without women’s voices, there is no full story, no fair democracy and no shared future,” Mingeirou argued.
What to say of the worse-than-juvenile, de-basing buffoonery of men throwing green dildos onto the court during at least a half dozen professional women’s (WNBA) basketball games, beginning in July of this year, to “create publicity” for a new meme coin and drive up its value? The group’s spokesperson, too cowardly to reveal his name, denied “disliking women’s sports,” when to all the women players, coaches and fans it was in-your-face misogyny. A sick attempt to disrupt women’s success in collegiate and professional women’s basketball: last year the women’s NCAA championship peaked at 24 million viewers, attracting more viewers than the men’s counterpart. I imagine President Trump, who owns billions of dollars’ worth of coins in the cryptocurrency market, enjoyed the dildo stunt, given he has trivialized domestic violence with “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime.”
Perhaps the most consequential sin against women is women’s lack of political power. Why do I say this? Peace and the security of nations are powerfully linked with the equality of women. A team of researchers, including security studies experts and statisticians, has created the largest global database on the status of women. Called WomanStats, the database enables researchers to compare the security and level of conflict within 175 countries to the overall security of women in those countries. The degree of equality of women within countries predicts best how peaceful or conflict-ridden their countries are. Further, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are less stable and more likely to choose force rather than diplomacy to resolve conflict.
No surprise that democracy in the United States has been in decline and that decline is accelerating under the Trump administration with abortion restrictions expanding, with federal funds to end sexual slavery and child exploitation severely diminished, with poverty rates among women consistently much higher than men and with violence against women higher than in other western democracies. “Building resilient democracies and advancing the status of women go hand in hand,” asserts the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
Women are underrepresented in every level of decision-making — from executive level to legislative bodies to local governments — throughout the world, and achieving equality with men in political positions is far off. Unless societies transform themselves and act decisively to empower women, they will persist as dens of male ambition, male privilege and male power. This toxic mix — as empirical evidence supports — dooms the future of national and international security.
Sometimes a picture speaks more clearly than a thousand words. Try googling pictures of European Union leaders and BRICs, the positive counterpoint to the failing West. Where are the women? If half of humanity is welcomed as equals, the world would only benefit.
Feminist men and those who want to be, this is your chance to work with us to re-right the world. Our tactics and philosophy are always non-violent and ensure greater success.
Pat Hynes is a retired professor of environmental health and member of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, an ardent feminist and advocate of environmental justice.